Cambodia - Emergency Rehabilitation

 Emergency Rehabilitation Report No: ; Type: Report/Evaluation Memorandum ; Country: Cambodia; Region: East Asia And Pacific; Sector: Non-Sector Specific; Major Sector: Multisector; Project ID: P004036 The Cambodia Emergency Rehabilitation Project, supported by Credit 2550-KH for US$62.7 million equivalent, was approved in FY94. The credit was fully disbursed and was closed, six months behind schedule, on April 30, 1997. SIDA provided US$2.3 million in cofinancing for technical assistance (TA). The Implementation Completion Report (ICR) was prepared by the East Asia and Pacific Regional Office. The Borrower’s contribution is included as an appendix. Although Cambodia became a member of IDA in 1969, this was the first IDA credit to the country and the first substantive lending operation by any official donor following the resumption of aid to Cambodia. The 1991 Paris Accords, which ended the internal war, identified rehabilitation activities as a priority in the transitional process. At a Ministerial Conference held in Tokyo in November 1992, US$880 million was pledged for a core rehabilitation program identified by the ADB, IMF, UNDP and the Bank. This Credit was part of the Bank’s response to Cambodia’s rehabilitation needs. It financed the foreign exchange cost of imports critical to rehabilitating economic activity, maintaining essential infrastructure, and improving the delivery of essential services. The credit allocated US$37.7 million for specific critical imports for agriculture, transport, power, water supply, education, health and public administration; and US$25 million for other essential imports from the positive list. Equipment procured under the project is currently in use and the counterpart funds were useful in financing budgetary expenditures during the recovery period. Implementation was flexible and funds were reallocated as emerging conditions required. In general, funds were reallocated from earmarked critical imports to the “essential